


Is it too weird?

by SuperEllen



Series: Bokuroo Week 2020 [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, BoKuroo Week 2020, Day 4, Jackal the annoying dog, M/M, Pro Volleyball Player Bokuto Koutarou, Teacher Kuroo Tetsurou, several insults are addressed to the dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28429359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperEllen/pseuds/SuperEllen
Summary: Kuroo is living a peaceful life, the one he has always wanted. Until his favorite volleyball player moves in next door, and the guy's dog decides to destroy Kuroo's lawn.Day 4: Neighbors
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou
Series: Bokuroo Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2077230
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46
Collections: Bokuroo Week 2020





	Is it too weird?

**Author's Note:**

> Bokuroo week continues, and here we have the fourth day. For each day of the week, I decided to use one of the two prompts for the day AND the dialogue prompt, that I put inside each fic to work alongside the theme prompt. Therefore each fic is basically written on a double prompt.
> 
> Day four prompts: Neighbors | ~~Fantasy/mystical AU~~  
>  Dialogue prompt: "It could be worse" "It doesn't... look right"
> 
> Please be reminded that English is not my first language, so it you see any mistakes please let me know and I’ll amend them; there’s always a limit to the editing I can do on my own.
> 
> I struggled a lot with the prompts of day four, so I hope I’ve managed to come up with a decent plot. And since there’s nothing else left to say, I just hope you’ll enjoy the read :)

Kuroo Tetsurou was a nice person, who also happened to have a very nice life. He was a science person, teaching chemistry at the local high school. And he was pretty accomplished, for someone in his late twenties. He had a decent house in the suburbs, with a small front yard. He was a very methodical person, and that was how he lived his everyday life: following a perfectly rehearsed routine. Every day he woke up at the same time to go to work, while during the weekends he slept a little more. During week days, he spent his evenings alternating watching volleyball matches on TV and grading papers from his students. On the weekends, he cared for the perfect lawn in his yard and then relaxed some more, either in front of the TV or with a good book.

He was also nice with everyone he met, and that was the reason why he had a good relationship with his neighbors. Not that he talked to them much, but no one ever had anything bad to say about him. He was gentle and polite, and always ready to offer his help if one of his neighbors was in need. In particular, he had a good relationship with the old woman who lived next door. Her house was identical to Kuroo's, with the same brick walls and the same front yard. There was a small wooden fence separating their properties, but it wasn't really needed, because Kuroo could easily leap over it in order to go see the woman when needed.

She was a very nice old lady, and that was the reason why Kuroo felt terrible one night as he watched from his bedroom window the paramedics load his neighbor into an ambulance. After that event, he didn't see her again for days. He was really getting worried about her, and that was the reason why, when he noticed the woman's daughter approaching the house on a Friday afternoon while he was getting back home from work, he immediately asked her about what had happened.

The woman, in her early forties, reassured him that her mother was fine, but she wasn't able to live alone anymore. She was going to stay with her family, meaning that the house was now empty. It was with a smile on her face that the woman informed Kuroo that her mother's house had just been sold. The new buyer, apparently, was a very charming guy around Kuroo's age, based on what she was saying. He had been in a rush to close the deal, and he was going to move in during the weekend.

Kuroo wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of having a new neighbor, but of course he didn't say as much out loud. He just smiled politely to his old neighbor's daughter and thanked her for the information, before turning away from her and getting back to his house. The idea of a new neighbor was haunting him, because what if the new guy found a way to unsettle his balance? What if he ended up screwing with Kuroo's routine? He was never happy at the idea of meeting new neighbors, because he was used to the previous ones and he had no way to know if he could trust new people not to disturb him.

Trying to take his mind off of the new neighbor business, Kuroo decided to ignore the papers he needed to grade, leaving that task for the weekend instead, and he let himself fall on the armchair in front of the TV in his living room. He was a huge volleyball fan, and his hometown team was playing that evening, meaning that he couldn't really miss the game. He also hoped that watching some volleyball was going to help him calm down a little and forget all about the fact that he was about to get a new neighbor.

The game itself happened to be what managed to surprise him the most. In fact, as soon as the names of the players were announced, Kuroo leaped off the armchair and on his feet. Because his hometown team had a new player. And not just _any_ player either. It was Bokuto Koutarou, the ace of the national team. He'd been hearing rumors about that acquisition for a while, but he had never believed them. Not until the moment he saw Bokuto on the court playing for the new team.

Kuroo was outright ecstatic, all thoughts of the new neighbor forgotten. He just enjoyed the game, admiring how amazing Bokuto was. He was the best spiker in the country, and on top of that he was hot as hell. Strong arms, large chest and back, perfectly round ass. Kuroo had fantasized about him before, he had to admit that, but now that Bokuto was playing for his hometown team he felt somehow more free to think about him that way.

When he went to sleep, that night, Kuroo was feeling much better. His team had won the game, and it was probably going to win the whole championship. Because come on, how could they lose when they had Bokuto on the team? The following day, Kuroo woke up with a smile on his face, that didn't falter even when he got to grading the papers he had refused to touch the evening before.

* * *

Kuroo's personal hell began on Sunday morning. On Sundays, he always slept until a time between 9 and 10 am. It was the day he dedicated almost entirely to rest, meaning that he hated being disturbed on Sundays. That was the reason why his day definitely started the wrong way when he got woken up around 8 am by the sound of a truck stopping a little too close to his house for his own liking. At first he decided to ignore it, trying to get back to sleep. It happened to be impossible, however, because only moments later the banging sounds started.

There were sounds of people moving furniture around, and slamming things around. People were calling at each other loudly, telling each other to hurry up carrying one piece of furniture or another. And then there was an overly energetic voice shouting directions. It was clear at that point that the new neighbor had arrived, and Kuroo already hated him. Why couldn't the guy just let him sleep in peace for a little longer? Why couldn't he move in silently, instead of shouting so much? And most of all, why the hell did the new neighbor have a dog? The beast kept barking like crazy, and nobody was telling it to shut the hell up!

Terribly irritated, Kuroo got up way earlier than he would have wanted, feeling grumpier than he'd been in many years. He quickly put on some comfortable clothes, just because it wasn't polite to scold his new neighbor wearing pajamas, and then he walked to the front door with quick steps. As he stepped into the yard, however, Kuroo froze on the spot.

The movers were carrying furniture around, while a medium-sized black dog kept barking at them as if it was feeling under attack. And then there was a huge guy with black and white hair who was carrying a stack of boxes from the truck to the house, while shouting directions to the movers on where to put down what they were transporting.

Kuroo almost had a heart attack when he saw the guy. Because there was no way he wasn't going to recognize him. It was him, it had to be him. His new neighbor was Bokuto Koutarou! He felt his heart beat faster, as he tried to rationalize what the hell was happening to him. Was the hottest guy he'd ever seen really going to be his neighbor? And how was it possible that he looked even better in person than he did on TV?

Noticing that Kuroo was standing in his yard and staring, the dog approached the fence and started barking at him, startling Kuroo out of his daydream about how gorgeous Bokuto looked. And that caught the volleyball player's attention, because soon Bokuto turned in his direction and noticed Kuroo as well. He started walking towards the fence, depositing the stack on boxes on the ground after joining his dog.

"Hi, you must be my new neighbor" Bokuto said with a smile, and Kuroo felt something somersault inside his stomach. It definitely wasn't good. In the meantime, however, Bokuto's dog kept barking both at Kuroo and at the movers. "Shut up, Jackal!" the volleyball player then told his dog, who apparently wasn't big on obedience, because he just started running around the yard again, but didn't stop barking. Bokuto watched him go for a moment, before giving his attentions to Kuroo once again. "Sorry, I've only had Jackal for a few weeks and he still doesn't feel like listening to me" Bokuto said, his cheeks getting pinker but his smile never faltering. Kuroo definitely couldn't stop staring.

"Anyway, I'm-" Bokuto started to say as he offered his hand, but Kuroo interrupted him.

"Bokuto Koutarou, I know. I'm a fan" Kuroo said, and only after he'd finished speaking he realized that maybe he was sounding a little too much like a creep. He definitely didn't want his new neighbor to think that he was some kind of stalker or anything like that. After all, Kuroo just wanted to keep living his life peacefully, the way he had always done before his favorite volleyball player in the world decided to move in next door. "I'm Kuroo. Kuroo Tetsurou" he then introduced himself, shaking Bokuto's hand for a brief moment. He tried to commit that sensation to memory, the feeling of Bokuto's hand against his own.

"Oh!" was all that Bokuto said, but a second later his smile got even brighter than he'd been before, and Kuroo felt moments away from passing out. Seriously, how could someone be so gorgeous? It was unfair!

"Welcome to the neighborhood" Kuroo said, trying his best to keep his voice polite and detached. "Just... can you please keep it down? This place is quiet, and your movers and your dog are quite disturbing" he then requested. He wanted to make sure that Bokuto knew about his dislike for any kind of noise, especially when he was trying to relax.

"Oh, okay. I can tell the movers to keep it down a little, but it's just for the day. After that, no more movers" Bokuto immediately replied, nodding a little. He seemed to have been caught by surprise by Kuroo's words, and Kuroo himself didn't feel guilty about it at all. Sure, he admired Bokuto a lot, but he would have never allowed the man to ruin the peace of his home.

"I'm not sure what I can do about Jackal, though. When I left the MSBY Black Jackals to move here, my old team gave him to me as a goodbye present, so we haven't been together for long. He still doesn't obey like he should” Bokuto explained.

Kuroo eyed the dog again. He was a dog person, he loved dogs. But he also liked when they were well trained and didn't disturb the people around them. Bokuto's dog seem to be anything but well trained. On the contrary, it reminded him more of a wild beast than a house dog, and Kuroo definitely hated it.

"I'm confident that you'll be able to make your dog listen to you" Kuroo told Bokuto with a fake smile on his face, as he patted Bokuto's shoulder. "Before he starts barking while I'm trying to sleep and I call the police on you" he concluded.

Bokuto didn't seem to understand if Kuroo was joking or not. (Spoiler alert: he wasn't.) That was the reason why he put on a very uncomfortable expression as he replied to Kuroo's words with a forced laugh, eyes darting in the direction of the dog that was currently trying to trip the movers as they transported a table. Kuroo ignored that reaction, he just gave his new neighbor a polite smile, bowed his head slightly as a form of respect, and then he turned around to walk back inside his house.

From the living room window, Kuroo watched as Bokuto picked back up the stack of boxes he had previously deposited on the ground, and he resumed carrying them inside the house. In the meantime, he could hear the new neighbor yell at the dog to keep it down. Not that the dog was listening to him, though. As he walked away from the window, Kuroo tried his best in order to calm himself down. He had only talked with Bokuto for less than two minutes, during which he had even threatened his idol of calling the police on his dog if necessary, yet he was still feeling excited and nervous like any fan meeting his favorite player for the first time.

During the rest of the day, Kuroo couldn't concentrate on anything that he was doing. Even though he had asked Bokuto to tell the movers to keep it down, they didn't seem to have listened to him either, just like the stupid dog. In fact, they kept banging pieces of furniture left and right, to the point that Kuroo felt like he was going insane. Because he noise wasn't only coming from outside, it was coming from inside the house as well, and he couldn't stand it. Also, the dog kept barking all day, only making the situation worse than it already was.

Sundays had always been Kuroo's favorite day of the week. The day he was supposed to relax. Instead, he spent the day in front of the TV unable to concentrate on what he was watching, and anxiously waiting for Monday to finally arrive. At that point, going to work was going to be better than staying at home, because a school full of teenagers was still more quiet than his own house when Bokuto's dog was around.

* * *

On Monday afternoon, Kuroo came back home from work hoping to find that the situation was calmer than the day before. Bokuto had finished moving his furniture in, and there was no way he was going to make too much noise just unpacking the boxes, meaning that Kuroo could actually manage to enjoy a relaxing evening in front of the TV, if only his neighbor succeeded in keeping his dog quiet for a few hours.

As he walked inside his front yard and towards his house, however, Kuroo noticed something that definitely hadn't been there when he'd left in the morning. There was a hole in the ground, in the middle of his perfect lawn. He spent hours every weekend taking care of the lawn, making sure that the grass was the right length in order to appear precise and neat. And now there was a hole, and dirt had been thrown in all directions. Kuroo glared at the hole with hate and disgust, not understanding what might have been the cause. Some animal, for sure, even though he was pretty sure that there weren't any stray cats in the area.

Without giving it too much thought, however, he covered up the hole and resumed walking towards the front door, trying not to think about the patch of ground with no grass that now was in the exact middle of his yard, looking horrible and ruining his perfect lawn. After all, it had been a single incident, there was no way that something like that was going to happen again. Soon the grass was going to grow back, and everything was going to be okay.

The following day, when he came back home from work, Kuroo found that the hole in his yard had been reopened, and another new one was there as well, not too far from the first one. Okay, something was definitely wrong. He couldn't think that it was just a coincidence, something had definitely dug those holes in his yard! He covered them up, but they kept coming back. By the time he came back from work on Friday afternoon, there were seven holes in his yard. Some were badly covered, others seemed to be freshly dug. Kuroo growled as he stormed inside the house without even taking the time to cover them up again.

He was going to do something about it during the weekend, that was for sure. He was going to spy from the window all day on Saturday, if that ended up being necessary, in order to see who was responsible for digging in his yard, and then he was going to make the beast pay. Because he was certain now that there was some stray cat around, even though nobody had ever seen one.

That was how he ended up sitting in front of the living room window most of the day on Saturday, until something caught his attention. Bokuto's dog sneaked through the cracks in the fence, cracks that Kuroo knew hadn't been there before, and he entered Kuroo's yard. He ran around a little, sniffing the ground and peeing against a tree. Then, he started digging.

That was it. Furious, Kuroo slammed his front door open and ran towards the yard, grabbing Bokuto's dog by the collar before the damned beast could try to escape. He looked so enraged and threatening that the dog didn't even try to bark; he only tried to free himself and failed, because Kuroo was holding him so tight that the dog risked choking himself if he tried to move too much.

"BOKUTO!" Kuroo started yelling with rage, not caring about how his voice was definitely going to disturb everyone else around. At the moment, all he cared about was for his neighbor to come out and see what his stupid dog had done.

Kuroo wasn't even sure that Bokuto was actually home, but he kept yelling his name nonetheless. Only a minute later, the volleyball player rushed out of the house, looking pretty alarmed. He only slowed down as he was approaching the fence, noticing that Kuroo was still holding his dog by the collar.

"Why do you have my dog?" Bokuto asked, perplexed. Kuroo growled a little.

"Because the beast broke the fence and spent the week digging holes in my lawn" Kuroo retorted, giving Bokuto an accusatory look. Sure, he admired Bokuto as a volleyball player, and he was also sure that he was the hottest person he had ever met. But did he like Bokuto as a person? No, he definitely didn't. On the contrary, they had been neighbors for a week and Kuroo already couldn’t stand him anymore. And most of it was the dog's fault.

Bokuto seemed to be taken aback by Kuroo's words, and he eyed the condition of Kuroo's yard before blushing. "Jackal, come here! Bad dog!" he called the beast from hell, and Kuroo let go of the collar, watching the dog pass once again through a hole in the fence to get back to his owner and lay down at his feet. Bokuto caressed the dog's head for a second before giving his attention back to Kuroo once again.

"I'm so sorry. I want to make it up to you" Bokuto stated, and he seemed to be genuinely sincere. Kuroo was almost starting to feel bad for him. But he was still so mad about his lawn that he kept his face perfectly cold.

"How?" he asked, sounding almost accusatory. Not exactly what he was going for, but he didn't complain about the result. Not when he noticed Bokuto's cheeks pinken some more, making him look even more beautiful.

"I'll rebuild the fence. And I'll do it thicker, so Jackal won't be able to break it anymore" Bokuto suggested. There was hope both painted on his face and in the tone of his voice. He really seemed to be feeling sorry for what his stupid dog had done. Apparently, he really wanted to do something nice for Kuroo to show how sorry he was.

Kuroo took a few seconds to consider the offer, and then he gladly accepted. Maybe that was going to be the solution to the dog problem. And after pulling something like that, Bokuto was probably going to finally train the beast to keep quiet. Satisfied, Kuroo turned around and walked back towards his house. From the corner of an eye, however, he noticed a strongly embarrassed Bokuto drag his dog towards his own house, scolding the beast for making him look bad in front of the nice neighbor. Kuroo's cheeks heated when he realized that Bokuto thought he was nice, but luckily he was already inside his house and nobody could have seen it. Involuntarily, he found himself smiling as he kept going on with his daily routine.

* * *

On Sunday morning, Kuroo hoped to be able to finally get some sleep. Instead, he got woken pretty early by the sound of hammering. It was distant, but not enough that he could shut it out and go back to sleep. It was actually pretty annoying, and Kuroo wanted nothing more than to make it stop. It was useless to say that he woke up grumpy, and he was sure that things weren't going to get any better during the rest of the day; especially if the hammering didn't stop soon.

Reluctantly, Kuroo got out of bed and looked from his bedroom window at what was happening outside. Bokuto was tearing off the fence separating their yards, and while he destroyed the old one, he kept attempting to build the new one. Looking at him from there, it seemed that he knew what he was doing. Sure, he had difficulties keeping his stupid dog from running to Kuroo's yard, but he was at least positioning the new wooden planks correctly in order to rebuild the fence. Kuroo seemed satisfied with what he was seeing. After all, if he had volunteered to build the new fence, Kuroo assumed that Bokuto actually knew how to do it.

Feeling definitely better at the thought that soon Bokuto's dog wasn't going to be able to enter his yard anymore, Kuroo decided to get dressed and start his day. He tried to do something relaxing, but it was incredibly difficult to accomplish, considering the continuous hammering that accompanied him throughout most of the day.

Kuroo's bedroom was on the first floor, exactly over his living room. That was the reason why both his bedroom and living room windows allowed him a good view of Bokuto working on the fence. More than once, during the day, Kuroo chanced a look in Bokuto's direction, in order to check on the other's progress. It was early afternoon when, as soon as he got close to the window, Kuroo almost choked on his own saliva. Because Bokuto was currently shirtless, and Kuroo's mouth started watering at that sight.

In addition to be hotter than ever before, Bokuto also seemed to be in over his head. He didn't seem to be exactly comfortable with what he was doing at the moment, and Kuroo could clearly notice that. Because the wooden planks kept slipping from Bokuto's hands, one even landing on his foot, and Kuroo could have sworn he'd seen the other man hammer his finger instead of the nail he was holding. Was it actually possible that Bokuto didn't have the slightest idea of what he was doing, after all? Yes, that was still a huge possibility.

It wasn't any of Kuroo's business, though. Bokuto had been the one who had offered to build the fence, so it was only his problem if he was struggling. Therefore, Kuroo got once again away from the window and went back to his day of relax. He started reading a book, and he actually managed to concentrate on it notwithstanding the hammering and the occasional swearing coming from outside. That was why he only lifted his head from the book when he heard someone call him by yelling his name. With a sigh, Kuroo closed the book and walked out of the front door.

The first thing he noticed, the moment he was out, was the fence. It was definitely completed, that much he could see, and Bokuto was standing on the other side of it, grinning widely and with satisfaction. The closer he got, however, the more Kuroo could notice the flaws on the fence that Bokuto had built. He started examining it from up close, realizing that it was the most terrible job he had ever seen anyone do with a fence.

"And you call this thing a fence? It's horrible!" Kuroo stated. He didn't use an accusatory tone, and he didn't mean those words as an insult. He just stated the obvious, because the new fence really sucked. He almost preferred the old one, even though Bokuto's dog had managed to break it.

Bokuto studied the result of his work as well. He didn't seem to be offended by Kuroo's words, though, which at least was a good thing. "Oh, come on! It could be worse!" he stated, pointing with a hand at the result. Kuroo couldn't exactly see how it could have been worse.

"It doesn't... look right. I mean, it's such a poor job" he commented, just to make sure that the other understood his point of view. At that point, however, he noticed that Bokuto was starting to get dejected, something that Kuroo had never seen before and that he immediately realized he hated. Bokuto had an amazing smile, and Kuroo wanted it back.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just suck. I only wanted to do something nice for you" Bokuto then said, his voice sounding almost sad and making Kuroo feel even worse about his own reaction. Now he was the one who felt the need to make it up to the other! What the hell was Bokuto doing to him? Kuroo probably looked as surprised as he was, because Bokuto got startled by his reaction, now acting erratically, as if he was panicking.

"I mean, after what Jackal did to your lawn, I just wanted to apologize" Bokuto immediately added, probably to better explain what he was trying to say. Kuroo at that point was definitely feeling bad for the other, and that was the reason why he dropped his serious expression and just smiled at his neighbor.

"It's okay, don't worry. You tried. I guess we'll have to hire a professional at this point" he said, trying to make the other understand that it wasn't a big deal after all. "But you'll pay for it" he added, just to make sure that Bokuto never forgot that his dog had been the one who had caused the entire problem.

Bokuto gave him a smile that seemed almost hopeful, and that Kuroo couldn't really understand. "Or we can split the cost of the fence, and I can pay for dinner" the volleyball player suggested all of a sudden, making Kuroo freeze on the spot. Well, now he definitely was in shock.

"Wait, what? You want to have dinner? With me? What, like a date or something?" Kuroo immediately asked, trying to understand if he really got Bokuto's intentions right or if his traitorous brain had just misunderstood the entire situation. Bokuto shrugged in a casual way.

"Yeah, I guess" he replied, confirming what Kuroo was thinking. Bokuto had just asked him out on a date, then. Kuroo tried to take a deep breath, but he almost choked on it.

"You're asking me out over a messed up fence" he still managed to comment, showing Bokuto a grin. The situation was somehow interesting, he had to admit.

"Yes. Unless it's too weird. Wait, is it too weird? I don't even know if you're into guys..." Bokuto replied to those words, sounding a little agitated. Kuroo laughed at that.

"It’s definitely weird. But it's okay, I like weird. I'll be happy to go on a date with you. But just to be clear, you're not bringing the dog" Kuroo finally stated, gladly accepting the invitation. He couldn’t wait to go on that date with Bokuto, as long as the dog wasn’t involved.

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re interested in meeting other people who appreciate this ship, you can join the Bokuroo Discord server by clicking [HERE](https://discord.gg/4KARKrggjs).  
> If you want to talk not only about Bokuroo but pretty much all things Haikyuu, you can find me on Twitter at @SuperEllen4 (the account is pretty new, but I have every intention to post fics, ideas and pretty much everything Bokuroo related that comes to my mind)


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